Garden bean cultivar H26109

ABSTRACT

A novel garden bean cultivar, designated H26109, is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of garden bean cultivar H26109, to the plants of garden bean line H26109, and to methods for producing a bean plant by crossing the cultivar H26109 with itself or another bean line. The invention further relates to methods for producing a bean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes, and to the transgenic plants produced by that method, and to methods for producing other garden bean lines derived from the cultivar H26109.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinctive garden beancultivar (Phaseolus vulgaris), designated H26109. All publications citedin this application are herein incorporated by reference.

There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirableplant germplasm. Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definitionof problems and weaknesses of the current germplasm, the establishmentof program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives.The next step is selection of germplasm that possesses the traits tomeet the program goals. The goal is to combine in a single variety animproved combination of desirable traits from the parental germplasm.

In beans, these important traits may include fresh pod yield, higherseed yield, resistance to diseases and insects, better stems and roots,tolerance to drought and heat, and better agronomic quality. Withmechanical harvesting of many crops, uniformity of the plants'characteristics, such as germination and stand establishment, growthrate, maturity, and plant height, is important.

Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plantreproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and thetype of cultivar used commercially (e.g., F₁ hybrid cultivar, purelinecultivar, etc.). For highly heritable traits, a choice of superiorindividual plants evaluated at a single location will be effective,whereas for traits with low heritability, selection should be based onmean values obtained from replicated evaluations of families of relatedplants. Popular selection methods commonly include pedigree selection,modified pedigree selection, mass selection, recurrent selection, andbackcross breeding.

The complexity of inheritance influences choice of the breeding method.Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genes fora highly heritable trait into a desirable cultivar. This approach hasbeen used extensively for breeding disease-resistant cultivars.Nevertheless, it is also suitable for the adjustment and selection ofmorphological character, color characteristics, and simply inheritedquantitative characters. Various recurrent selection techniques are usedto improve quantitatively inherited traits controlled by numerous genes.The use of recurrent selection in self-pollinating crops depends on theease of pollination, the frequency of successful hybrids from eachpollination, and the number of hybrid offspring from each successfulcross.

Each breeding program should include a periodic, objective evaluation ofthe efficiency of the breeding procedure. Evaluation criteria varydepending on the goal and objectives, but should include gain fromselection per year based on comparisons to an appropriate standard,overall value of the advanced breeding lines, and number of successfulcultivars produced per unit of input (e.g., per year, per dollarexpended, etc.).

Promising advanced breeding lines are thoroughly tested and compared toappropriate standards in environments representative of the commercialtarget area(s) for three or more years. The best lines are candidatesfor new commercial cultivars. Those still deficient in a few traits maybe used as parents to produce new populations for further selection.

These processes, which lead to the final step of marketing anddistribution, usually take from eight to twelve years from the time thefirst cross is made. Therefore, development of new cultivars is atime-consuming process that requires precise forward planning, efficientuse of resources, and a minimum of changes in direction.

A most difficult task is the identification of individuals that aregenetically superior, because for most traits the true genotypic valueis masked by other confounding plant traits or environmental factors.One method of identifying a superior plant is to observe its performancerelative to other experimental plants and to a widely grown standardcultivar. If a single observation is inconclusive, replicatedobservations provide a better estimate of its genetic worth.

The goal of garden bean plant breeding is to develop new, unique, andsuperior garden bean cultivars. The breeder initially selects andcrosses two or more parental lines, followed by repeated selfing andselection, producing many new genetic combinations. The breeder cantheoretically generate billions of different genetic combinations viacrossing, selfing, and mutations.

Each year, the plant breeder selects the germplasm to advance to thenext generation. This germplasm is grown under unique and differentgeographical, climatic, and soil conditions, and further selections arethen made during and at the end of the growing season. The cultivarsthat are developed are unpredictable. This unpredictability is becausethe breeder's selection occurs in unique environments with no control atthe DNA level (using conventional breeding procedures), and withmillions of different possible genetic combinations being generated. Abreeder of ordinary skill in the art cannot predict the final resultinglines he develops, except possibly in a very gross and general fashion.This unpredictability results in the expenditure of large amounts ofresearch monies to develop superior new garden bean cultivars.

The development of new garden bean cultivars requires the developmentand selection of garden bean varieties, the crossing of these varieties,and the evaluation of the crosses.

Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breeding methods are used todevelop cultivars from breeding populations. Breeding programs combinedesirable traits from two or more cultivars or various broad-basedsources into breeding pools from which cultivars are developed byselfing and selection of desired phenotypes.

Pedigree breeding is used commonly for the improvement ofself-pollinating crops or inbred lines of cross-pollinating crops. Twoparents that possess favorable, complementary traits are crossed toproduce an F₁. An F₂ population is produced by selfing one or severalF₁s or by intercrossing two F₁s (sib mating). Selection of the bestindividuals may begin in the F₂ population; then, beginning in the F₃,the best individuals in the best families are selected. Replicatedtesting of families, or hybrid combinations involving individuals ofthese families, often follows in the F₄ generation to improve theeffectiveness of selection for traits with low heritability. At anadvanced stage of inbreeding (i.e., F₆ and F₇), the best lines ormixtures of phenotypically similar lines are tested for potentialrelease as new cultivars.

Mass and recurrent selections can be used to improve populations ofeither self- or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variablepopulation of heterozygous individuals is either identified, or created,by intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selectedbased on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellentcombining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a newpopulation in which further cycles of selection are continued.

Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a simplyinherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivaror inbred line which is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait tobe transferred is called the donor parent. The resulting plant isexpected to have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., cultivar)and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent. After theinitial cross, individuals possessing the phenotype of the donor parentare selected and repeatedly crossed (backcrossed) to the recurrentparent.

The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to plantinga segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, andusing the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. When thepopulation has been advanced from the F₂ to the desired level ofinbreeding, the plants from which lines are derived will each trace todifferent F₂ individuals. The number of plants in a population declineseach generation due to failure of some seeds to germinate or some plantsto produce at least one seed. As a result, not all of the F₂ plantsoriginally sampled in the population will be represented by a progenywhen generation advance is completed.

In a multiple-seed procedure, garden bean breeders commonly harvest oneor more pods from each plant in a population and thresh them together toform a bulk. Part of the bulk is used to plant the next generation andpart is put in reserve. The procedure has been referred to as modifiedsingle-seed descent or the pod-bulk technique.

The multiple-seed procedure has been used to save labor at harvest. Itis considerably faster to thresh pods with a machine than to remove oneseed from each by hand for the single-seed procedure. The multiple-seedprocedure also makes it possible to plant the same number of seeds of apopulation each generation of inbreeding. Enough seeds are harvested tomake up for those plants that did not germinate or produce seed.

Descriptions of other breeding methods that are commonly used fordifferent traits and crops can be found in one of several referencebooks (e.g., Principles of Plant Breeding, John Wiley and Son, pp.115-161, 1960; Allard, 1960; Fehr, 1987).

Proper testing should detect any major faults and establish the level ofsuperiority or improvement over current cultivars. In addition toshowing superior performance, there must be a demand for a new cultivarthat is compatible with industry standards or which creates a newmarket. The introduction of a new cultivar will incur additional coststo the seed producer, the grower, processor and consumer for specialadvertising and marketing, altered seed and commercial productionpractices, and new product utilization. The testing preceding release ofa new cultivar should take into consideration research and developmentcosts as well as technical superiority of the final cultivar. Forseed-propagated cultivars, it must be feasible to produce seed easilyand economically.

Garden bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L., is an important and valuablevegetable crop. Thus, a continuing goal of garden bean plant breeders isto develop stable, high yielding garden bean cultivars that areagronomically sound. The reasons for this goal are obviously to maximizethe amount of yield produced on the land. To accomplish this goal, thegarden bean breeder must select and develop garden bean plants that havetraits that result in superior cultivars.

The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations relatedtherewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Otherlimitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill inthe art upon a reading of the specification.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described inconjunction with systems, tools and methods which are meant to beexemplary, not limiting in scope. In various embodiments, one or more ofthe above-described problems have been reduced or eliminated, whileother embodiments are directed to other improvements.

According to the invention, there is provided a novel garden beancultivar, designated H26109. This invention thus relates to the seeds ofgarden bean cultivar H26109, to the plants or part(s) thereof of gardenbean cultivar H26109, to plants or part(s) thereof having all thephenotypic and morphological characteristics of garden bean cultivarH26109, and to plants or part(s) thereof having the phenotypic andmorphological characteristics of garden bean cultivar H26109 listed inTable 1 as determined at the 5% significance level when grown in thesame environmental conditions. Plant parts of the garden bean cultivarof the present invention are also provided such as, i.e., pollenobtained from the plant cultivar and an ovule obtained from the plantcultivar.

In another aspect, the present invention provides regenerable cells foruse in tissue culture of bean cultivar H26109. The tissue culture willpreferably be capable of regenerating plants having the physiologicaland morphological characteristics of bean cultivar H26109. Preferably,the cells of such tissue culture will be embryos, meristematic cells,seeds, callus, pollen, leaves, anthers, pistils, roots, root tips, pods,flowers, and stems. Protoplasts produced from such tissue culture arealso included in the present invention. The bean plants regenerated fromthe tissue culture are also part of the invention.

Also included in the invention are methods for producing a bean plantproduced by crossing bean cultivar H26109 with itself or another beancultivar. When crossed with itself, i.e., when crossed with another beancultivar H26109 plant or self-pollinated, bean cultivar H26109 will beconserved. When crossed with another, different bean plant, an F₁ hybridseed is produced. F₁ hybrid seeds and plants produced by growing saidhybrid seeds are included in the present invention. A method forproducing an F₁ hybrid bean seed comprising crossing a bean cultivarH26109 plant with a different bean plant and harvesting the resultanthybrid bean seed are also part of the invention. The hybrid bean seedproduced by the method comprising crossing a bean cultivar H26109 plantwith a different bean plant and harvesting the resultant hybrid beanseed, are included in the invention, as are the hybrid bean plant orpart(s) thereof, and seeds produced by growing said hybrid bean seed.

In another aspect, the present invention provides for transformed H26109bean cultivar plants, or part(s) thereof that have been transformed, sothat its genetic material contains one or more transgenes, preferablyoperably linked to one or more regulatory elements. Also, the inventionprovides methods for producing a bean plant containing in its geneticmaterial one or more transgenes, preferably operably linked to one ormore regulatory elements, by crossing transformed H26109 bean cultivarplants with either a second plant of another bean cultivar, or anontransformed H26109 bean cultivar, so that the genetic material of theprogeny that results from the cross contains the transgene(s),preferably operably linked to one or more regulatory elements. Theinvention also provides methods for producing a bean plant that containsin its genetic material one or more transgene(s), wherein the methodcomprises crossing the cultivar H26109 with a second bean cultivar ofanother bean cultivar which contains one or more transgene(s) operablylinked to one or more regulatory element(s) so that the genetic materialof the progeny that results from the cross contains the transgene(s)operably linked to one or more regulatory element(s). Transgenic beancultivars, or part(s) thereof produced by the methods are in the scopeof the present invention.

More specifically, the invention comprises methods for producing a malesterile bean plant, an herbicide resistant bean plant, an insectresistant bean plant, a disease resistant bean plant, a water stresstolerant bean plant, a heat stress tolerant bean plant, and a bean plantwith improved shelf-life. Said methods comprise transforming a beancultivar H26109 plant with a nucleic acid molecule that confers malesterility, herbicide resistance, insect resistance, disease resistance,water stress tolerance, heat stress tolerance, or improved shelf life,respectively. The transformed bean plants, or part(s) thereof, obtainedfrom the provided methods, including a male sterile bean plant, anherbicide resistant bean plant, an insect resistant bean plant, adisease resistant bean plant, a bean plant tolerant to water stress, abean plant tolerant to heat stress, or a bean plant with improvedshelf-life are included in the present invention. For the presentinvention and the skilled artisan, disease is understood to be fungaldiseases, viral diseases, bacterial diseases, or other plant pathogenicdiseases, and a disease resistant plant will encompass a plant resistantto fungal, viral, bacterial, and other plant pathogens.

In another aspect, the present invention provides for methods ofintroducing one or more desired trait(s) into bean cultivar H26109 andplants obtained from such methods. The desired trait(s) may be, but notexclusively, a single gene, preferably a dominant, but also a recessiveallele. Preferably, the transferred gene or genes will confer suchtraits as male sterility, herbicide resistance, insect resistance,resistance to bacterial, fungal, or viral disease, increased leafnumber, improved shelf-life, and tolerance to water stress or heatstress. The gene or genes may be naturally occurring gene(s) ortransgene(s) introduced through genetic engineering techniques. Themethod for introducing the desired trait(s) is preferably a backcrossingprocess making use of a series of backcrosses to bean cultivar H26109during which the desired trait(s) is maintained by selection.

When using a transgene, the trait is generally not incorporated intoeach newly developed line/cultivar such as bean cultivar H26109 bydirect transformation. Rather, the more typical method used by breedersof ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the transgene is to take aline already carrying the transgene and to use such line as a donor lineto transfer the transgene into the newly developed line. The same wouldapply for a naturally occurring trait. The backcross breeding processcomprises the following steps: (a) crossing bean cultivar H26109 plantswith plants of another cultivar that comprise the desired trait(s); (b)selecting the F₁ progeny plants that have the desired trait(s); (c)crossing the selected F₁ progeny plants with bean cultivar H26109 plantsto produce backcross progeny plants; (d) selecting for backcross progenyplants that have the desired trait(s) and physiological andmorphological characteristics of bean cultivar H26109 to produceselected backcross progeny plants; and (e) repeating steps (c) and (d)one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or more times insuccession to produce selected, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth,seventh, eighth, ninth, or higher backcross progeny plants that comprisethe desired trait(s) and the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of bean cultivar H26109 as determined in Table 1 at a 5%significance level when grown in the same environmental conditions. Thebean plants produced by the methods are also part of the invention.Backcrossing breeding methods, well known for a man skilled in the artof plant breeding, will be further developed in subsequent parts of thespecification.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides methods forincreasing and producing bean cultivar H26109 seed, whether by crossinga first parent bean cultivar plant with a second parent bean cultivarplant and harvesting the resultant bean seed, wherein both said firstand second parent bean cultivar plants are the bean cultivar H26109 orby planting a bean seed of the bean cultivar H26109, growing a beancultivar H26109 plant from said seed, controlling a self pollination ofthe plant where the pollen produced by a grown bean cultivar H26109plant pollinates the ovules produced by the very same bean cultivarH26109 grown plant, and harvesting the resultant seed.

The invention further provides methods for developing bean cultivars ina bean breeding program using plant breeding techniques includingrecurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigree breeding, molecular markers(Isozyme Electrophoresis, Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms(RFLPs), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Arbitrarily PrimedPolymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting(DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs), AmplifiedFragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs), and Simple Sequence Repeats(SSRs), which are also referred to as Microsatellites, etc.) enhancedselection, genetic marker enhanced selection, and transformation. Seeds,bean plants, and part(s) thereof produced by such breeding methods arealso part of the invention.

In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above,further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by study of thefollowing descriptions.

DEFINITIONS

In the description and tables that follow, a number of terms are used.In order to provide a clear and consistent understanding of thespecification and claims, including the scope to be given such terms,the following definitions are provided:

Allele. An allele is any of one or more alternative forms of a genewhich relate to one trait or characteristic. In a diploid cell ororganism, the two alleles of a given gene occupy corresponding loci on apair of homologous chromosomes.

Backcrossing. Backcrossing is a process in which a breeder repeatedlycrosses hybrid progeny back to one of the parents, for example, a firstgeneration hybrid F₁ with one of the parental genotypes of the F₁hybrid.

Bean yield (tons/acre). The yield in tons/acre is the actual yield ofthe bean pods at harvest.

Determinate plant. A determinate plant will grow to a fixed number ofnodes while an indeterminate plant continues to grow during the season.

Emergence. The rate that the seed germinates and sprouts out of theground.

Essentially all the physiological and morphological characteristics. Aplant having essentially all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics means a plant having the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics, except for the characteristics derived from theconverted gene.

Field holding ability. A bean plant that has field holding ability meansa plant having pods that remain smooth and retain their color even afterthe seed is almost fully developed.

Immunity to disease(s) and or insect(s). A bean plant which is notsubject to attack or infection by specific disease(s) and or insect(s)is considered immune.

Intermediate resistance to disease(s) and or insect(s). A bean plantthat restricts the growth and development of specific disease(s) and orinsect(s), but may exhibit a greater range of symptoms or damagecompared to resistant plants. Intermediate resistant plants will usuallyshow less severe symptoms or damage than susceptible plant varietieswhen grown under similar environmental conditions and/or specificdisease(s) and or insect(s) pressure, but may have heavy damage underheavy pressure. Intermediate resistant bean plants are not immune to thedisease(s) and or insect(s).

Machine harvestable bush. A machine harvestable bush means a bean plantthat stands with pods off the ground. The pods can be removed by amachine from the plant without leaves and other plant parts.

Maturity. A maturity under 53 days is considered early, while maturitybetween 54-59 days is considered average or medium, and maturity of 60or more days would be late.

Maturity date. Plants are considered mature when the pods have reachedtheir maximum allowable seed size and sieve size for the specific useintended. This can vary for each end user, e.g., processing at differentstages of maturity would be required for different types of consumerbeans such as “whole pack,” “cut,” or “french style.” The number of daysare calculated from a relative planting date which depends on daylength, heat units, and other environmental factors.

Plant adaptability. A plant having good plant adaptability means a plantthat will perform well in different growing conditions and seasons.

Plant architecture. Plant architecture is the shape of the overall plantwhich can be tall-narrow, short-wide, medium height, and/or mediumwidth.

Plant cell. As used herein, the term “plant cell” includes plant cellswhether isolated, in tissue culture, or incorporated in a plant or plantpart.

Plant habit. A plant can be erect (upright) to sprawling on the ground.

Plant height. Plant height is taken from the top of the soil to the topnode of the plant and is measured in inches or centimeters.

Plant part. As used herein, the term “plant part” includes leaves,stems, roots, seed, embryos, pollen, ovules, flowers, root tips,anthers, tissue, cells, pods, and the like.

Pod set height. The pod set height is the location of the pods withinthe plant. The pods can be high (near the top), low (near the bottom),or medium (in the middle) of the plant.

Regeneration. Regeneration refers to the development of a plant fromtissue culture.

Resistance to disease(s) and or insect(s). A bean plant that restrictsthe growth and development of specific disease(s) and or insect(s) undernormal disease(s) and or insect(s) attack pressure when compared tosusceptible plants. These bean plants can exhibit some symptoms ordamage under heavy disease(s) and or insect(s) pressure. Resistant beanplants are not immune to the disease(s) and or insect(s).

RHS. RHS refers to the Royal Horticultural Society of England whichpublishes an official botanical color chart quantitatively identifyingcolors according to a defined numbering system. The chart may bepurchased from Royal Hort. Society Enterprise Ltd. RHS Garden; Wisley,Woking; Surrey GU236QB, UK.

Sieve size (sv). Sieve size 1 means pods that fall through a sievegrader which culls out pod diameters of 4.76 mm through 5.76 mm. Sievesize 2 means pods that fall through a sieve grader which culls out poddiameters of 5.76 mm through 7.34 mm. Sieve size 3 means pods that fallthrough a sieve grader which culls out pod diameters of 7.34 mm through8.34 mm. Sieve size 4 means pods that fall through a sieve grader whichculls out pod diameters of 8.34 mm through 9.53 mm. Sieve size 5 meanspods that fall through a sieve grader which culls out pod diameters of9.53 mm through 10.72 mm. Sieve size 6 means pods that fall through asieve grader that will cull out pod diameters of 10.72 mm or larger.

Single gene converted (conversion). Single gene converted (conversion)plants refers to plants which are developed by a plant breedingtechnique called backcrossing wherein essentially all of the desiredmorphological and physiological characteristics of a variety arerecovered in addition to the single gene transferred into the varietyvia the backcrossing technique or via genetic engineering.

Slow seed development. Beans having slow seed development develop seedslowly even after the pods are full sized. This characteristic gives thecultivar its field holding ability.

Susceptible to disease(s) and or insect(s). A bean plant that issusceptible to disease(s) and or insect(s) is defined as a bean plantthat has the inability to restrict the growth and development ofspecific disease(s) and or insect(s). Plants that are susceptible willshow damage when infected and are more likely to have heavy damage undermoderate levels of specific disease(s) and or insect(s).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Garden bean cultivar H26109 has superior characteristics and wasdeveloped from an initial cross that was made in San Juan Bautista(SJB), Calif., in a greenhouse, in the spring of 1999. The cross wasbetween two proprietary lines under stake numbers M5180 (female) andM5225 (male). The F₁ generation was harvested in April 2000 at SJB,Calif., in plot M5X564. The F₂ selection was made in July 2000 nearColoma, Wis., in plot 6YE5982. The F₃ selection was made in February2001 near Los Mochis, Mexico, in plot 7M2344. The F₄ selection was madein July 2001 near Coloma, Wis., in plot 7Y8509. The F₅ selection wasmade in February 2002 near Los Mochis, Mexico, in plot M20294. The F₆selection was made in July 2002 near Coloma, Wis., in plot H26261. TheF₇ generation was bulked in February 2003 near Los Mochis, Mexico, inplot M31803. The F₈ generation was bulk harvested in August 2003 in SJB,Calif., in plot C302232. The F₉ generation was bulked in February 2004near Los Mochis, Mexico, in plot M42360. The F₁₀ generation was bulkharvested in August 2004 in SJB, Calif., in plot C406320. The F₁₁generation was bulk harvested in August 2005 in SJB, Calif., in plotC507200. The F₁₂ generation was bulked in February 2006 near Los Mochis,Mexico, in plot 64401-424 and later designated H26109.

Garden bean cultivar H26109 is similar to garden bean cultivar ‘Pike.’While similar to garden bean cultivar ‘Pike,’ there are significantdifferences including garden bean cultivar H26109 has pods that areslightly larger in diameter than garden bean cultivar ‘Pike.’ Inaddition, garden bean cultivar H26109 is 2 days later to edible maturitythan cultivar ‘Pike.’

Garden bean cultivar H26109 is a 57-day medium maturity bean withuniform medium-dark green pods on an upright plant structure (habit).The plants are normally taller than the width of the plant. The pods arevery straight and smooth and are borne in the upper one-half of theplant. The majority of the pods are in the 3 to 4 sieves range. Theleaves are medium in size with a medium-dark green, semi-glossy color.Garden bean cultivar H26109 is a determinate plant and is resistant toBean Common Mosaic Virus (BCMV I-gene) and Beet Curly Top Virus. Gardenbean cultivar H26109 also has intermediate resistance to Psuedomonassyringae pv syringae (Bacterial brown spot).

Some of the selection criteria used for various generations include: podappearance and length, bean yield, pod set height, emergence, maturity,plant architecture, habit and height, seed yield and quality, anddisease resistance.

Bean Common Mosaic Virus resistance is a desired trait for a beanvariety. The disease occurs worldwide causing low quality of the harvestproduct and losses from 80% to 100% by reduction of yield. It is mostlytransmitted by aphids during the growing season, but can also be spreadby pollen or mechanically. The leaves develop mosaic patterns in whichirregular light and dark green patches are intermixed. Malformation andyellow dots may also be produced, often causing growth reduction. Theplant may be dwarfed and pod and seed yield reduced. Severe necrosis mayoccur and the plant may die if infected while young. Systemic necrosis,in which the roots and shoots become blackened, appears in cultivarshaving a dominant resistance gene (hypersensitive resistance mechanism).The systemic necrosis may spread to higher leaves without killing themor may be concentrated in the vascular parts of the stem, eventuallyleading to the death of all or part of the plant. When infection occurslate in plant development, parts of the plant may die and many pods mayshow brown discoloration in the pod wall and pod suture as a result ofvascular necrosis.

Garden bean cultivar H26109 has shown uniformity and stability for thetraits, as described in the following Variety Description Information.It has been self-pollinated a sufficient number of generations withcareful attention to uniformity of plant type. The cultivar has beenincreased with continued observation for uniformity. No variant traitshave been observed or are expected in garden bean cultivar H26109.

Garden bean cultivar H26109 has the following morphologic and othercharacteristics (based primarily on data collected at Immokalee, Fla.,Crossville, Tenn., and Sun Prairie, Wis.).

TABLE 1 VARIETY DESCRIPTION INFORMATION Market Maturity: Days to ediblepods: 57 Number of days later than ‘Pike’: 2 Plant: Habit: DeterminateHeight: 49.0 cm (taller than ‘Pike’ by 1.0 cm) Spread: 46.0 cm Podposition: High Bush form: High bush Leaves: Surface: Semi-glossy Size:Medium Color: Medium dark-green Anthocyanin Pigment: Flowers: AbsentStems: Absent Pods: Absent Seeds: Absent Leaves: Absent Petioles: AbsentPeduncles: Absent Nodes: Absent Flower Color: Color of standard: WhiteColor of wings: White Color of keel: White Pods (edible maturity):Exterior color: Medium dark-green Cross section pod shape: RoundCreaseback: Present Pubescence: Sparse Constriction: None Spur length:1.2 cm Fiber: Sparse to considerable Number of seeds/pods: 6 Suturestring: Absent Seed development: Slow Machine harvest: AdaptedDistribution of sieve size at optimum maturity: 20% 5.76 mm to 7.34 mm -Sieve 2 65% 7.34 mm to 8.34 mm - Sieve 3 15% 8.34 mm to 9.53 mm - Sieve4 Seed Color: Seed coat luster: Shiny Seed coat: Monochrome Primarycolor: White Seed coat pattern: Solid Hilar ring: Absent Seed Shape andSize: Hilum view: Elliptical Cross section: Round Side view: Oval tooblong Seed size (g/100 seeds): 21 Disease Resistance: Bean CommonMosaic Virus (BCMV I gene): Resistant Beet Curly Top Virus: ResistantPsuedomonas syringae pv syringae (Bacterial Brown Spot): Intermediateresistance

FURTHER EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

This invention also is directed to methods for producing a garden plantby crossing a first parent bean plant with a second parent bean plantwherein either the first or second parent bean plant is a bean plant ofthe line H26109. Further, both first and second parent bean plants cancome from cultivar H26109. When self pollinated, or crossed with anotherbean cultivar H26109 plant, the bean cultivar H26109 will be stable,while when crossed with another, different bean cultivar plant, an F₁hybrid seed is produced.

Still further, this invention also is directed to methods for producingan H26109-derived bean plant by crossing cultivar H26109 with a secondbean plant and growing the progeny seed, and repeating the crossing andgrowing steps with the cultivar H26109-derived plant from 0 to 7 times.Thus, any such methods using the cultivar H26109 are part of thisinvention: selfing, backcrosses, hybrid production, crosses topopulations, and the like. All plants produced using cultivar H26109 asa parent are within the scope of this invention, including plantsderived from cultivar H26109. Advantageously, the cultivar is used incrosses with other, different cultivars to produce first generation (F₁)bean seeds and plants with superior characteristics.

As used herein, the term “plant” includes plant cells, plantprotoplasts, plant cell tissue cultures from which garden bean plantscan be regenerated, plant calli, plant clumps and plant cells that areintact in plants or parts of plants, such as embryos, pollen, ovules,flowers, seeds, pods, stems, roots, anthers, pistils, root tips, leaves,and the like.

As is well known in the art, tissue culture of garden bean can be usedfor the in vitro regeneration of a garden bean plant. Tissue culture ofvarious tissues of garden beans and regeneration of plants therefrom iswell known and widely published. For example, reference may be had toMcClean, P., Grafton, K. F., “Regeneration of dry bean (Phaseolusvulgaris) via organogenesis,” Plant Sci., 60:117-122 (1989); Mergeai,G., Baudoin, J. P., “Development of an in vitro culture method forheart-shaped embryo in Phaseolus vulgaris,” B. I. C. Invit. Papers33:115-116 (1990); Vanderwesthuizen, A. J., Groenewald, E. G., “RootFormation and Attempts to Establish Morphogenesis in Callus Tissues ofBeans (Phaseolus-vulgaris L.),” S. Afr. J. Bot. 56:271-273 (2 Apr.1990); Benedicic, D., et al., “The regeneration of Phaseolus vulgaris L.plants from meristem culture,” Abst. 5th I.A.P.T.C. Cong. 1, 91 (#A3-33)(1990); Genga, A., Allavena, A., “Factors affecting morphogenesis fromimmature cotyledons of Phaseolus coccineus L.,” Abst. 5th I.A.P.T.C.Cong. 1, 101 (#A3-75) (1990); Vaquero, F., et al., “Plant regenerationand preliminary studies on transformation of Phaseolus coccineus,” Abst.5th I.A.P.T.C. Cong. 1, 106 (#A3-93) (1990); Franklin, C. I., et al.,“Plant Regeneration from Seedling Explants of Green Bean(Phaseolus-Vulgaris L.) via Organogenesis,” Plant Cell Tissue Org.Cult., 24:199-206 (3 Mar. 1991); Malik, K. A., Saxena, P. K.,“Regeneration in Phaseolus-vulgaris L.—Promotive Role ofN6-Benzylaminopurine in Cultures from Juvenile Leaves,” Planta,184(1):148-150 (1991); Genga, A., Allavena, A., “Factors affectingmorphogenesis from immature cotyledones of Phaseolus coccineus L.,”Plant Cell Tissue Org. Cult., 27:189-196 (1991); Malik, K. A., Saxena,P. K., “Regeneration in Phaseolus vulgaris L. —High-Frequency Inductionof Direct Shoot Formation in Intact Seedlings by N-6-Benzylaminopurineand Thidiazuron,” 186:384-389 (3 Feb. 1992); Malik, K. A., Saxena, P.K., “Somatic Embryogenesis and Shoot Regeneration from Intact Seedlingsof Phaseolus acutifolius A., P. aureus (L.) Wilczek, P. coccineus L.,and P. wrightii L.,” Pl. Cell. Rep., 11: 163-168 (3 Apr. 1992); Chavez,J., et al., “Development of an in vitro culture method for heart shapedembryo in Phaseolus polyanthus,” B.I.C. Invit. Papers, 35:215-216(1992); Munoz-Florez, L. C., et al., “Finding out an efficient techniquefor inducing callus from Phaseolus microspores,” B. I. C. Invit. Papers,35:217-218 (1992); Vaquero, F., et al., “A Method for Long-TermMicropropagation of Phaseolus coccineus L.,” L. Pl. Cell. Rep.,12:395-398 (7-8 May 1993); Lewis, M. E., Bliss, F. A., “Tumor Formationand beta-Glucuronidase Expression in Phaseolus vulgaris L. Inoculatedwith Agrobacterium Tumefaciens,” Journal of the American Society forHorticultural Science, 119:361-366 (2 Mar. 1994); Song, J. Y., et al.,“Effect of auxin on expression of the isopentenyl transferase gene (ipt)in transformed bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) single-cell clones inducedby Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58,” J. Plant Physiol., 146:148-154 (1-2May 1995). It is clear from the literature that the state of the art issuch that these methods of obtaining plants are routinely used and havea very high rate of success. Thus, another aspect of this invention isto provide cells which upon growth and differentiation produce beanplants having the physiological and morphological characteristics ofgarden bean cultivar H26109.

As used herein, the term “tissue culture” indicates a compositioncomprising isolated cells of the same or a different type or acollection of such cells organized into parts of a plant. Exemplarytypes of tissue cultures are protoplasts, calli, plant clumps, and plantcells that can generate tissue culture that are intact in plants orparts of plants, such as embryos, pollen, flowers, seeds, pods, leaves,stems, roots, root tips, anthers, pistils, and the like. Means forpreparing and maintaining plant tissue culture are well known in theart. By way of example, a tissue culture comprising organs has been usedto produce regenerated plants. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,959,185, 5,973,234, and5,977,445 describe certain techniques, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

With the advent of molecular biological techniques that have allowed theisolation and characterization of genes that encode specific proteinproducts, scientists in the field of plant biology developed a stronginterest in engineering the genome of plants to contain and expressforeign genes, or additional, or modified versions of native, orendogenous, genes (perhaps driven by different promoters) in order toalter the traits of a plant in a specific manner. Such foreignadditional and/or modified genes are referred to herein collectively as“transgenes.” Over the last fifteen to twenty years, several methods forproducing transgenic plants have been developed and the presentinvention, in particular embodiments, also relates to transformedversions of the claimed variety or line.

Plant transformation involves the construction of an expression vectorwhich will function in plant cells. Such a vector comprises DNAcomprising a gene under control of, or operatively linked to, aregulatory element (for example, a promoter). The expression vector maycontain one or more such operably linked gene/regulatory elementcombinations. The vector(s) may be in the form of a plasmid and can beused alone or in combination with other plasmids to provide transformedgarden bean plants using transformation methods as described below toincorporate transgenes into the genetic material of the garden beanplant(s).

Expression Vectors for Garden Bean Transformation: Marker Genes

Expression vectors include at least one genetic marker operably linkedto a regulatory element (a promoter, for example) that allowstransformed cells containing the marker to be either recovered bynegative selection, i.e., inhibiting growth of cells that do not containthe selectable marker gene, or by positive selection, i.e., screeningfor the product encoded by the genetic marker. Many commonly usedselectable marker genes for plant transformation are well known in thetransformation arts, and include, for example, genes that code forenzymes that metabolically detoxify a selective chemical agent which maybe an antibiotic or an herbicide, or genes that encode an altered targetwhich is insensitive to the inhibitor. A few positive selection methodsare also known in the art.

One commonly used selectable marker gene for plant transformation is theneomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) gene which, when under thecontrol of plant regulatory signals, confers resistance to kanamycin.Fraley, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 80:4803 (1983). Anothercommonly used selectable marker gene is the hygromycinphosphotransferase gene which confers resistance to the antibiotichygromycin. Vanden Elzen, et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 5:299 (1985).

Additional selectable marker genes of bacterial origin that conferresistance to antibiotics include gentamycin acetyl transferase,streptomycin phosphotransferase and aminoglycoside-3′-adenyltransferase, the bleomycin resistance determinant (Hayford, et al.,Plant Physiol., 86:1216 (1988); Jones, et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 210:86(1987); Svab, et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 14:197 (1990); Hille, et al.,Plant Mol. Biol., 7:171 (1986)). Other selectable marker genes conferresistance to herbicides such as glyphosate, glufosinate or bromoxynil(Comai, et al., Nature, 317:741-744 (1985); Gordon-Kamm, et al., PlantCell, 2:603-618 (1990); and Stalker, et al., Science, 242:419-423(1988)).

Other selectable marker genes for plant transformation are not ofbacterial origin. These genes include, for example, mouse dihydrofolatereductase, plant 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase and plantacetolactate synthase. Eichholtz, et al., Somatic Cell Mol. Genet.,13:67 (1987); Shah, et al., Science, 233:478 (1986); Charest, et al.,Plant Cell Rep., 8:643 (1990).

Another class of marker genes for plant transformation requiresscreening of presumptively transformed plant cells rather than directgenetic selection of transformed cells for resistance to a toxicsubstance such as an antibiotic. These genes are particularly useful toquantify or visualize the spatial pattern of expression of a gene inspecific tissues and are frequently referred to as reporter genesbecause they can be fused to a gene or gene regulatory sequence for theinvestigation of gene expression. Commonly used genes for screeningpresumptively transformed cells include β-glucuronidase (GUS),β-galactosidase, luciferase, and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase(Jefferson, R. A., Plant Mol. Biol. Rep., 5:387 (1987); Teeri, et al.,EMBO J., 8:343 (1989); Koncz, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 84:131(1987); DeBlock, et al., EMBO J., 3:1681 (1984)).

In vivo methods for visualizing GUS activity that do not requiredestruction of plant tissue are available. However, these in vivomethods for visualizing GUS activity have not proven useful for recoveryof transformed cells because of low sensitivity, high fluorescentbackgrounds and limitations associated with the use of luciferase genesas selectable markers.

A gene encoding Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) has been utilized as amarker for gene expression in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells (Chalfie,et al., Science, 263:802 (1994)). GFP and mutants of GFP may be used asscreenable markers.

Expression Vectors for Garden Bean Transformation: Promoters

Genes included in expression vectors must be driven by a nucleotidesequence comprising a regulatory element, for example, a promoter.Several types of promoters are well known in the transformation arts asare other regulatory elements that can be used alone or in combinationwith promoters.

As used herein, “promoter” includes reference to a region of DNAupstream from the start of transcription and involved in recognition andbinding of RNA polymerase and other proteins to initiate transcription.A “plant promoter” is a promoter capable of initiating transcription inplant cells. Examples of promoters under developmental control includepromoters that preferentially initiate transcription in certain tissues,such as leaves, roots, seeds, fibers, xylem vessels, tracheids, orsclerenchyma. Such promoters are referred to as “tissue-preferred.”Promoters that initiate transcription only in a certain tissue arereferred to as “tissue-specific.” A “cell-type” specific promoterprimarily drives expression in certain cell types in one or more organs,for example, vascular cells in roots or leaves. An “inducible” promoteris a promoter which is under environmental control. Examples ofenvironmental conditions that may effect transcription by induciblepromoters include anaerobic conditions or the presence of light.Tissue-specific, tissue-preferred, cell-type specific, and induciblepromoters constitute the class of “non-constitutive” promoters. A“constitutive” promoter is a promoter that is active under mostenvironmental conditions.

A. Inducible Promoters—An inducible promoter is operably linked to agene for expression in garden bean. Optionally, the inducible promoteris operably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequencewhich is operably linked to a gene for expression in garden bean. Withan inducible promoter the rate of transcription increases in response toan inducing agent.

Any inducible promoter can be used in the instant invention. See, Ward,et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 22:361-366 (1993). Exemplary induciblepromoters include, but are not limited to, that from the ACEI systemwhich responds to copper (Mett, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA,90:4567-4571 (1993)); In2 gene from maize which responds tobenzenesulfonamide herbicide safeners (Gatz, et al., Mol. Gen. Genetics,243:32-38 (1994)); or Tet repressor from Tn10 (Gatz, et al., Mol. Gen.Genetics, 227:229-237 (1991)). A particularly preferred induciblepromoter is a promoter that responds to an inducing agent to whichplants do not normally respond. An exemplary inducible promoter is theinducible promoter from a steroid hormone gene, the transcriptionalactivity of which is induced by a glucocorticosteroid hormone (Schena,et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88:0421 (1991)).

B. Constitutive Promoters—A constitutive promoter is operably linked toa gene for expression in garden bean or the constitutive promoter isoperably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequencewhich is operably linked to a gene for expression in garden bean.

Many different constitutive promoters can be utilized in the instantinvention. Exemplary constitutive promoters include, but are not limitedto, the promoters from plant viruses such as the 35S promoter from CaMV(Odell, et al., Nature, 313:810-812 (1985)) and the promoters from suchgenes as rice actin (McElroy, et al., Plant Cell, 2:163-171 (1990));ubiquitin (Christensen, et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 12:619-632 (1989) andChristensen, et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 18:675-689 (1992)); pEMU (Last,et al., Theor. Appl. Genet., 81:581-588 (1991)); MAS (Velten, et al.,EMBO J., 3:2723-2730 (1984)) and maize H3 histone (Lepetit, et al., Mol.Gen. Genetics, 231:276-285 (1992) and Atanassova, et al., Plant Journal,2 (3):291-300 (1992)). The ALS promoter, Xba 1/Ncol fragment 5′ to theBrassica napus ALS3 structural gene (or a nucleotide sequence similarityto said Xba 1/Ncol fragment), represents a particularly usefulconstitutive promoter. See PCT Application WO 96/30530.

C. Tissue-Specific or Tissue-Preferred Promoters—A tissue-specificpromoter is operably linked to a gene for expression in garden bean.Optionally, the tissue-specific promoter is operably linked to anucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequence which is operably linkedto a gene for expression in garden bean. Plants transformed with a geneof interest operably linked to a tissue-specific promoter produce theprotein product of the transgene exclusively, or preferentially, in aspecific tissue.

Any tissue-specific or tissue preferred promoter can be utilized in theinstant invention. Exemplary tissue-specific or tissue-preferredpromoters include, but are not limited to, a root-preferred promotersuch as that from the phaseolin gene (Murai, et al., Science, 23:476-482(1983) and Sengupta-Gopalan, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA,82:3320-3324 (1985)); a leaf-specific and light-induced promoter such asthat from cab or rubisco (Simpson, et al., EMBO J., 4(11):2723-2729(1985) and Timko, et al., Nature, 318:579-582 (1985)); ananther-specific promoter such as that from LAT52 (Twell, et al., Mol.Gen. Genetics, 217:240-245 (1989)); a pollen-specific promoter such asthat from Zm13 or a microspore-preferred promoter such as that from apg(Twell, et al., Sex. Plant Reprod., 6:217-224 (1993)).

Signal Sequences for Targeting Proteins to Subcellular Compartments

Transport of protein produced by transgenes to a subcellular compartmentsuch as the chloroplast, vacuole, peroxisome, glyoxysome, cell wall, ormitochondrion or for secretion into the apoplast, is accomplished bymeans of operably linking the nucleotide sequence encoding a signalsequence to the 5′ and/or 3′ region of a gene encoding the protein ofinterest. Targeting sequences at the 5′ and/or 3′ end of the structuralgene may determine during protein synthesis and processing where theencoded protein is ultimately compartmentalized.

The presence of a signal sequence directs a polypeptide to either anintracellular organelle or subcellular compartment or for secretion tothe apoplast. Many signal sequences are known in the art. See, forexample, Becker, et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 20:49 (1992); Knox, C., etal., “Structure and Organization of Two Divergent Alpha-Amylase Genesfrom Barley,” Plant Mol. Biol., 9:3-17 (1987); Lerner, et al., PlantPhysiol., 91:124-129 (1989); Fontes, et al., Plant Cell, 3:483-496(1991); Matsuoka, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 88:834 (1991); Gould,et al., J. Cell Biol., 108:1657 (1989); Creissen, et al., Plant J.,2:129 (1991); Kalderon, et al., Cell, 39:499-509 (1984); Steifel, etal., “Expression of a maize cell wall hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteingene in early leaf and root vascular differentiation,” Plant Cell,2:785-793 (1990).

Foreign Protein Genes and Agronomic Genes

With transgenic plants according to the present invention, a foreignprotein can be produced in commercial quantities. Thus, techniques forthe selection and propagation of transformed plants, which are wellunderstood in the art, yield a plurality of transgenic plants which areharvested in a conventional manner, and a foreign protein then can beextracted from a tissue of interest or from total biomass. Proteinextraction from plant biomass can be accomplished by known methods whichare discussed, for example, by Heney and Orr, Anal Biochem., 114:92-6(1981).

According to a preferred embodiment, the transgenic plant provided forcommercial production of foreign protein is a garden bean plant. Inanother preferred embodiment, the biomass of interest is seed. For therelatively small number of transgenic plants that show higher levels ofexpression, a genetic map can be generated, primarily via conventionalRFLP, PCR, and SSR analysis, which identifies the approximatechromosomal location of the integrated DNA molecule. For exemplarymethodologies in this regard, see Methods in Plant Molecular Biology andBiotechnology, Glick and Thompson Eds., CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton,269:284 (1993). Map information concerning chromosomal location isuseful for proprietary protection of a subject transgenic plant. Ifunauthorized propagation is undertaken and crosses made with othergermplasm, the map of the integration region can be compared to similarmaps for suspect plants to determine if the latter have a commonparentage with the subject plant. Map comparisons would involvehybridizations, RFLP, PCR, SSR, and sequencing, all of which areconventional techniques.

Likewise, by means of the present invention, agronomic genes can beexpressed in transformed plants. More particularly, plants can begenetically engineered to express various phenotypes of agronomicinterest. Exemplary genes implicated in this regard include, but are notlimited to, those categorized below:

1. Genes that Confer Resistance to Pests or Disease and that Encode:

A. Plant disease resistance genes. Plant defenses are often activated byspecific interaction between the product of a disease resistance gene(R) in the plant and the product of a corresponding avirulence (Avr)gene in the pathogen. A plant variety can be transformed with one ormore cloned resistance genes to engineer plants that are resistant tospecific pathogen strains. See, for example, Jones, et al., Science,266:789 (1994) (cloning of the tomato Cf-9 gene for resistance toCladosporium fulvum); Martin, et al., Science, 262:1432 (1993) (tomatoPto gene for resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato encodes aprotein kinase); Mindrinos, et al., Cell, 78:1089 (1994) (ArabidopsisRSP2 gene for resistance to Pseudomonas syringae).

B. A Bacillus thuringiensis protein, a derivative thereof or a syntheticpolypeptide modeled thereon. See, for example, Geiser, et al., Gene,48:109 (1986), who disclose the cloning and nucleotide sequence of a Btδ-endotoxin gene. Moreover, DNA molecules encoding δ-endotoxin genes canbe purchased from American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Va., forexample, under ATCC Accession Nos. 40098, 67136, 31995, and 31998.

C. A lectin. See, for example, Van Damme, et al., Plant Molec. Biol.,24:25 (1994), who disclose the nucleotide sequences of several Cliviaminiata mannose-binding lectin genes.

D. A vitamin-binding protein such as avidin. See, PCT Application US93/06487 which teaches the use of avidin and avidin homologues aslarvicides against insect pests.

E. An enzyme inhibitor, for example, a protease or proteinase inhibitoror an amylase inhibitor. See, for example, Abe, et al., J. Biol. Chem.,262:16793 (1987) (nucleotide sequence of rice cysteine proteinaseinhibitor); Huub, et al., Plant Molec. Biol., 21:985 (1993) (nucleotidesequence of cDNA encoding tobacco proteinase inhibitor I); Sumitani, etal., Biosci. Biotech. Biochem., 57:1243 (1993) (nucleotide sequence ofStreptomyces nitrosporeus α-amylase inhibitor).

F. An insect-specific hormone or pheromone such as an ecdysteroid orjuvenile hormone, a variant thereof, a mimetic based thereon, or anantagonist or agonist thereof. See, for example, the disclosure byHammock, et al., Nature, 344:458 (1990), of baculovirus expression ofcloned juvenile hormone esterase, an inactivator of juvenile hormone.

G. An insect-specific peptide or neuropeptide which, upon expression,disrupts the physiology of the affected pest. For example, see thedisclosure of Pratt, et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 163:1243(1989) (an allostatin is identified in Diploptera puntata). See also,U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,317 to Tomalski, et al., which discloses genesencoding insect-specific, paralytic neurotoxins.

H. An insect-specific venom produced in nature by a snake, a wasp, etc.For example, see, Pang, et al., Gene, 116:165 (1992), for disclosure ofheterologous expression in plants of a gene coding for a scorpioninsectotoxic peptide.

I. An enzyme responsible for a hyperaccumulation of a monoterpene, asesquiterpene, a steroid, hydroxamic acid, a phenylpropanoid derivativeor another non-protein molecule with insecticidal activity.

J. An enzyme involved in the modification, including thepost-translational modification, of a biologically active molecule; forexample, a glycolytic enzyme, a proteolytic enzyme, a lipolytic enzyme,a nuclease, a cyclase, a transaminase, an esterase, a hydrolase, aphosphatase, a kinase, a phosphorylase, a polymerase, an elastase, achitinase, and a glucanase, whether natural or synthetic. See, PCTApplication WO 93/02197 (Scott, et al.), which discloses the nucleotidesequence of a callase gene. DNA molecules which containchitinase-encoding sequences can be obtained, for example, from the ATCCunder Accession Nos. 39637 and 67152. See also, Kramer, et al., InsectBiochem. Molec. Biol., 23:691 (1993), who teach the nucleotide sequenceof a cDNA encoding tobacco hornworm chitinase, and Kawalleck, et al.,Plant Molec. Biol., 21:673 (1993), who provide the nucleotide sequenceof the parsley ubi4-2 polyubiquitin gene.

K. A molecule that stimulates signal transduction. For example, see thedisclosure by Botella, et al., Plant Molec. Biol., 24:757 (1994), ofnucleotide sequences for mung bean calmodulin cDNA clones, and Griess,et al., Plant Physiol., 104:1467 (1994), who provide the nucleotidesequence of a maize calmodulin cDNA clone.

L. A hydrophobic moment peptide. See, PCT Application WO 95/16776, whichdiscloses peptide derivatives of tachyplesin which inhibit fungal plantpathogens, and PCT Application WO 95/18855, which teaches syntheticantimicrobial peptides that confer disease resistance.

M. A membrane permease, a channel former or a channel blocker. Forexample, see the disclosure of Jaynes, et al., Plant Sci., 89:43 (1993),of heterologous expression of a cecropin-β lytic peptide analog torender transgenic tobacco plants resistant to Pseudomonas solanacearum.

N. A viral-invasive protein or a complex toxin derived therefrom. Forexample, the accumulation of viral coat proteins in transformed plantcells imparts resistance to viral infection and/or disease developmenteffected by the virus from which the coat protein gene is derived, aswell as by related viruses. See, Beachy, et al., Ann. Rev. Phytopathol.,28:451 (1990). Coat protein-mediated resistance has been conferred upontransformed plants against alfalfa mosaic virus, cucumber mosaic virusand tobacco streak virus, potato virus X, potato virus Y, tobacco etchvirus, tobacco rattle virus, and tobacco mosaic virus. Id.

O. An insect-specific antibody or an immunotoxin derived therefrom.Thus, an antibody targeted to a critical metabolic function in theinsect gut would inactivate an affected enzyme, killing the insect.

P. A virus-specific antibody. See, for example, Tavladoraki, et al.,Nature, 366:469 (1993), who show that transgenic plants expressingrecombinant antibody genes are protected from virus attack.

Q. A developmental-arrestive protein produced in nature by a pathogen ora parasite. Thus, fungal endo-α-1,4-D-polygalacturonases facilitatefungal colonization and plant nutrient release by solubilizing plantcell wall homo-α-1,4-D-galacturonase. See, Lamb, et al., Bio/Technology,10:1436 (1992).

R. A developmental-arrestive protein produced in nature by a plant. Forexample, Logemann, et al., Bio/Technology, 10:305 (1992), have shownthat transgenic plants expressing the barley ribosome-inactivating genehave an increased resistance to fungal disease.

S. Genes involved in the Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) Responseand/or the pathogenesis-related genes. Briggs, S., “Plant diseaseresistance. Grand unification system theory in sight,” Current Biology,5(2) (1995).

T. Antifungal genes. See, Cornelissen and Melchers, “Strategies forControl of Fungal Diseases with Transgenic plants,” Plant Physiol.,101:709-712 (1993); and Bushnell, et al., “Genetic Engineering ofDisease Resistance in Cereal,” Can. J. of Plant Path., 20(2): 137-149(1998).

2. Genes that Confer Resistance to an Herbicide, for Example:

A. An herbicide that inhibits the growing point or meristem, such as animidazolinone or a sulfonylurea. Exemplary genes in this category codefor mutant ALS and AHAS enzyme as described, for example, by Lee, etal., EMBO J., 7:1241 (1988), and Miki, et al., Theor. Appl. Genet.,80:449 (1990), respectively.

B. Glyphosate (resistance conferred by mutant5-enolpyruvlshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) and aroa genes,respectively) and other phosphono compounds, such as glufosinate(phosphinothricin acetyl transferase (PAT) and Streptomyceshygroscopicus PAT bar genes), and pyridinoxy or phenoxy proprionic acidsand cyclohexones (ACCase inhibitor-encoding genes). See, for example,U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,835 to Shah, et al., which discloses the nucleotidesequence of a form of EPSPS which can confer glyphosate resistance. ADNA molecule encoding a mutant aroA gene can be obtained under ATCCAccession No. 39256, and the nucleotide sequence of the mutant gene isdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,061 to Comai. European PatentApplication No. 0 333 033 to Kumada, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,374to Goodman, et al., disclose nucleotide sequences of glutaminesynthetase genes which confer resistance to herbicides, such asL-phosphinothricin. See also, Russel, D. R., et al., Plant Cell Report,12:3, 165-169 (1993). The nucleotide sequence of aphosphinothricin-acetyl-transferase (PAT) gene is provided in EuropeanApplication No. 0 242 246 to Leemans, et al. DeGreef, et al.,Bio/Technology, 7:61 (1989) describe the production of transgenic plantsthat express chimeric bar genes coding for phosphinothricin acetyltransferase activity. Exemplary of genes conferring resistance tophenoxy proprionic acids and cyclohexones, such as sethoxydim andhaloxyfop, are the Acc1-S1, Acc1-S2, and Acc2-S3 genes described byMarshall, et al., Theor. Appl. Genet., 83:435 (1992).

C. An herbicide that inhibits photosynthesis, such as a triazine (psbAand gs+ genes) and a benzonitrile (nitrilase gene). Przibila, et al.,Plant Cell, 3:169 (1991), describe the transformation of Chlamydomonaswith plasmids encoding mutant psbA genes. Nucleotide sequences fornitrilase genes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,648 to Stalker andDNA molecules containing these genes are available under ATCC AccessionNos. 53435, 67441, and 67442. Cloning and expression of DNA coding for aglutathione S-transferase is described by Hayes, et al., Biochem. J.,285:173 (1992).

D. Acetohydroxy acid synthase, which has been found to make plants thatexpress this enzyme resistant to multiple types of herbicides, has beenintroduced into a variety of plants. See, Hattori, et al., “AnAcetohydroxy acid synthase mutant reveals a single site involved inmultiple herbicide resistance,” Mol. Gen. Genet., 246:419-425 (1995).Other genes that confer tolerance to herbicides include a gene encodinga chimeric protein of rat cytochrome P4507A1 and yeast NADPH-cytochromeP450 oxidoreductase (Shiota, et al., “Herbidcide-resistant TobaccoPlants Expressing the Fused Enzyme between Rat Cytochrome P4501A1(CYP1A1) and Yeast NADPH-Cytochrome P450 Oxidoreductase,” PlantPhysiol., 106:17 (1994)); genes for glutathione reductase and superoxidedismutase (Aono, et al., “Paraquat tolerance of transgenic Nicotianatabacum with enhanced activities of glutathione reductase and superoxidedismutase,” Plant Cell Physiol., 36:1687 (1995)); and genes for variousphosphotransferases (Datta, et al., “Herbicide-resistant Indica riceplants from IRRI breeding line IR72 after PEG-mediated transformation ofprotoplants,” Plant Mol. Biol., 20:619 (1992).

E. Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (protox) is necessary for the productionof chlorophyll, which is necessary for all plant survival. The protoxenzyme serves as the target for a variety of herbicidal compounds. Theseherbicides also inhibit growth of all the different species of plantspresent, causing their total destruction. The development of plantscontaining altered protox activity which are resistant to theseherbicides are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,288,306, 6,282,837,5,767,373, and International Publication WO 01/12825.

3. Genes that Confer or Contribute to a Value-Added Trait, Such as:

A. Delayed and attenuated symptoms to Bean Golden Mosaic Geminivirus(BGMV), for example by transforming a plant with antisens genes from theBrazilian BGMV. See, Arago, et al., Molecular Breeding, 4:6, 491-499(1998).

B. Increased the bean content in Methionine by introducing a transgenecoding for a Methionine rich storage albumin (2S-albumin) from theBrazil nut as described in Arago, et al., Genetics and MolecularBiology, 22:3, 445-449 (1999).

Methods for Garden Bean Transformation

Numerous methods for plant transformation have been developed includingbiological and physical plant transformation protocols. See, forexample, Miki, et al., “Procedures for Introducing Foreign DNA intoPlants,” in Methods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Glickand Thompson Eds., CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, pp. 67-88 (1993). Inaddition, expression vectors and in-vitro culture methods for plant cellor tissue transformation and regeneration of plants are available. See,for example, Gruber, et al., “Vectors for Plant Transformation,” inMethods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Glick and ThompsonEds., CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, pp. 89-119 (1993).

A. Agrobacterium-mediated Transformation—One method for introducing anexpression vector into plants is based on the natural transformationsystem of Agrobacterium. See, for example, Horsch, et al., Science,227:1229 (1985); Diant, et al., Molecular Breeding, 3:1, 75-86 (1997).A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes are plant pathogenic soil bacteriawhich genetically transform plant cells. The Ti and Ri plasmids of A.tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes, respectively, carry genes responsible forgenetic transformation of the plant. See, for example, Kado, C. I.,Crit. Rev. Plant Sci., 10:1 (1991). Descriptions of Agrobacterium vectorsystems and methods for Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer areprovided by Gruber, et al., supra, Miki, et al., supra, and Moloney, etal., Plant Cell Reports, 8:238 (1989). See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,616issued Jan. 7, 1997.

B. Direct Gene Transfer—Despite the fact the host range forAgrobacterium-mediated transformation is broad, some cereal or vegetablecrop species and gymnosperms have generally been recalcitrant to thismode of gene transfer, even though some success has been achieved inrice and corn. Hiei, et al., The Plant Journal, 6:271-282 (1994) andU.S. Pat. No. 5,591,616 issued Jan. 7, 1997. Several methods of planttransformation, collectively referred to as direct gene transfer, havebeen developed as an alternative to Agrobacterium-mediatedtransformation. A generally applicable method of plant transformation ismicroprojectile-mediated transformation where DNA is carried on thesurface of microprojectiles measuring 1 to 4 microns. The expressionvector is introduced into plant tissues with a biolistic device thataccelerates the microprojectiles to speeds of 300 to 600 m/s which issufficient to penetrate plant cell walls and membranes. Russell, D. R.,et al., Pl. Cell. Rep., 12:165-169 (3 Jan. 1993); Aragao, F. J. L., etal., Plant Mol. Biol., 20:357-359 (2 Oct. 1992); Aragao, Theor. Appl.Genet., 93:142-150 (1996); Kim, J., Minamikawa, T., Plant Science,117:131-138 (1996); Sanford, et al., Part. Sci. Technol., 5:27 (1987);Sanford, J. C., Trends Biotech., 6:299 (1988); Klein, et al., Bio/Tech.,6:559-563 (1988); Sanford, J. C., Physiol Plant, 7:206 (1990); Klein, etal., Biotechnology, 10:268 (1992).

Another method for physical delivery of DNA to plants is sonication oftarget cells. Zhang, et al., Bio/Technology, 9:996 (1991).Alternatively, liposome and spheroplast fusion have been used tointroduce expression vectors into plants. Deshayes, et al., EMBO J.,4:2731 (1985); Christou, et al., Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 84:3962(1987). Direct uptake of DNA into protoplasts using CaCl₂ precipitation,polyvinyl alcohol or poly-L-ornithine have also been reported. Hain, etal., Mol. Gen. Genet., 199:161 (1985) and Draper, et al., Plant CellPhysiol., 23:451 (1982). Electroporation of protoplasts and whole cellsand tissues have also been described. Saker, M. and Kuhne, T., BiologiaPlantarum, 40(4):507-514 (1997/98); D'Halluin, et al., Plant Cell,4:1495-1505 (1992); and Spencer, et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 24:51-61(1994).

Following transformation of garden bean target tissues, expression ofthe above-described selectable marker genes allows for preferentialselection of transformed cells, tissues, and/or plants usingregeneration and selection methods well known in the art.

The foregoing methods for transformation would typically be used forproducing a transgenic variety. The transgenic variety could then becrossed with another (nontransformed or transformed) variety in order toproduce a new transgenic variety. Alternatively, a genetic trait thathas been engineered into a particular garden bean line using theforegoing transformation techniques could be moved into another lineusing traditional backcrossing techniques that are well known in theplant breeding arts. For example, a backcrossing approach could be usedto move an engineered trait from a public, non-elite variety into anelite variety, or from a variety containing a foreign gene in its genomeinto a variety or varieties that do not contain that gene. As usedherein, “crossing” can refer to a simple X by Y cross or the process ofbackcrossing depending on the context.

Backcrossing

When the term garden bean plant, cultivar or bean line are used in thecontext of the present invention, this also includes cultivars where oneor more desired traits has been introduced through backcrossing methods,whether such trait is a naturally occurring one or a transgenic one.Backcrossing methods can be used with the present invention to improveor introduce a characteristic into the line. The term “backcrossing” asused herein refers to the repeated crossing of a hybrid progeny back tothe recurrent parent, i.e., backcrossing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, ormore times to the recurrent parent. The parental bean plant whichcontributes the gene for the desired characteristic is termed thenonrecurrent or donor parent. This terminology refers to the fact thatthe nonrecurrent parent is used one time in the backcross protocol andtherefore does not recur. The parental bean plant to which the gene orgenes from the nonrecurrent parent are transferred is known as therecurrent parent as it is used for several rounds in the backcrossingprotocol.

In a typical backcross protocol, the original cultivar of interest(recurrent parent) is crossed to a second line (nonrecurrent parent)that carries the gene or genes of interest to be transferred. Theresulting progeny from this cross are then crossed again to therecurrent parent and the process is repeated until a garden bean plantis obtained wherein essentially all of the desired morphological andphysiological characteristics of the recurrent parent are recovered inthe converted plant, generally determined at a 5% significance levelwhen grown in the same environmental condition, in addition to the geneor genes transferred from the nonrecurrent parent. It has to be notedthat some, one, two, three, or more, self-pollination and growing ofpopulation might be included between two successive backcrosses. Indeed,an appropriate selection in the population produced by theself-pollination, i.e., selection for the desired trait andphysiological and morphological characteristics of the recurrent parentmight be equivalent to one, two, or even three additional backcrosses ina continuous series without rigorous selection, saving time, money, andeffort to the breeder. A non-limiting example of such a protocol wouldbe the following: (a) the first generation F₁ produced by the cross ofthe recurrent parent A by the donor parent B is backcrossed to parent A;(b) selection is practiced for the plants having the desired trait ofparent B; (c) selected plants are self-pollinated to produce apopulation of plants where selection is practiced for the plants havingthe desired trait of parent B and the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of parent A; (d) the selected plants are backcrossedone, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or more times toparent A to produce selected backcross progeny plants comprising thedesired trait of parent B and the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of parent A. Step (c) may or may not be repeated andincluded between the backcrosses of step (d).

The selection of a suitable recurrent parent is an important step for asuccessful backcrossing procedure. The goal of a backcross protocol isto alter or substitute a single trait or characteristic in the originalline. To accomplish this, a gene or genes of the recurrent cultivar ismodified or substituted with the desired gene from the nonrecurrentparent, while retaining essentially all of the rest of the desiredgenetic, and therefore the desired physiological and morphological,constitution of the original line. The choice of the particularnonrecurrent parent will depend on the purpose of the backcross, one ofthe major purposes is to add some commercially desirable, agronomicalimportant trait to the plant. The exact backcrossing protocol willdepend on the characteristic or trait being altered to determine anappropriate testing protocol. Although backcrossing methods aresimplified when the characteristic being transferred is a single geneand dominant allele, multiple genes and recessive allele(s) may also betransferred and therefore, backcross breeding is by no means restrictedto character(s) governed by one or a few genes. In fact, the number ofgenes might be less important than the identification of thecharacter(s) in the segregating population. In this instance it may thenbe necessary to introduce a test of the progeny to determine if thedesired characteristic(s) has been successfully transferred. Such testsencompass visual inspection, simple crossing but also follow up of thecharacteristic(s) through genetically associated markers and molecularassisted breeding tools. For example, selection of progeny containingthe transferred trait is done by direct selection, visual inspection fora trait associated with a dominant allele, while the selection ofprogeny for a trait that is transferred via a recessive allele requiresselfing the progeny to determine which plant carries the recessiveallele(s).

Many single gene traits have been identified that are not regularlyselected in the development of a new line but that can be improved bybackcrossing techniques. Single gene traits may or may not betransgenic. Examples of these traits include, but are not limited to,herbicide resistance (such as bar or pat genes), resistance forbacterial, fungal, or viral disease (such as gene I used for BCMVresistance), insect resistance, enhanced nutritional quality (such as 2salbumine gene), industrial usage, agronomic qualities (such as the“persistent green gene”), yield stability, and yield enhancement. Thesegenes are generally inherited through the nucleus. Some other singlegene traits are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,777,196, 5,948,957, and5,969,212, the disclosures of which are specifically hereby incorporatedby reference.

In 1981, the backcross method of breeding accounted for 17% of the totalbreeding effort for inbred corn line development in the United States,according to Hallauer, A. R., et al., “Corn Breeding,” Corn and CornImprovement, No. 18, pp. 463-481 (1988).

The backcross breeding method provides a precise way of improvingvarieties that excel in a large number of attributes but are deficientin a few characteristics. (Page 150 of the Pr. R. W. Allard's 1960 book,published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Principles of Plant Breeding.) Themethod makes use of a series of backcrosses to the variety to beimproved during which the character or the characters in whichimprovement is sought is maintained by selection. At the end of thebackcrossing the gene or genes being transferred unlike all other genes,will be heterozygous. Selfing after the last backcross produceshomozygosity for this gene pair(s) and, coupled with selection, willresult in a variety with exactly the adaptation, yielding ability, andquality characteristics of the recurrent parent but superior to thatparent in the particular characteristic(s) for which the improvementprogram was undertaken. Therefore, this method provides the plantbreeder with a high degree of genetic control of his work.

The backcross method is scientifically exact because the morphologicaland agricultural features of the improved variety could be described inadvance and because the same variety could, if it were desired, be breda second time by retracing the same steps (Briggs, “Breeding wheatsresistant to bunt by the backcross method,” Jour. Amer. Soc. Agron.,22:289-244 (1930)).

Backcrossing is a powerful mechanism for achieving homozygosity and anypopulation obtained by backcrossing must rapidly converge on thegenotype of the recurrent parent. When backcrossing is made the basis ofa plant breeding program, the genotype of the recurrent parent will bemodified only with regards to genes being transferred, which aremaintained in the population by selection.

Successful backcrosses are, for example, the transfer of stem rustresistance from ‘Hope’ wheat to ‘Bart’ wheat and even pursuing thebackcrosses with the transfer of bunt resistance to create ‘Bart 38,’having both resistances. Also highlighted by Allard is the successfultransfer of mildew, leaf spot, and wilt resistances in ‘CaliforniaCommon’ alfalfa to create ‘Caliverde.’ This new ‘Caliverde’ varietyproduced through the backcross process is indistinguishable from‘California Common’ except for its resistance to the three nameddiseases.

One of the advantages of the backcross method is that the breedingprogram can be carried out in almost every environment that will allowthe development of the character being transferred.

The backcross technique is not only desirable when breeding for diseaseresistance but also for the adjustment of morphological characters,color characteristics, and simply inherited quantitative characters suchas earliness, plant height, and seed size and shape. In this regard, amedium grain type variety, ‘Calady,’ has been produced by Jones andDavis. As dealing with quantitative characteristics, they selected thedonor parent with the view of sacrificing some of the intensity of thecharacter for which it was chosen, i.e., grain size. ‘Lady Wright,’ along grain variety, was used as the donor parent and ‘Coloro,’ a shortgrain variety, as the recurrent parent. After four backcrosses, themedium grain type variety ‘Calady’ was produced.

Tables

In Tables 2 and 3 that follow, the traits and characteristics of gardenbean cultivar H26109 are compared to the ‘Pike’ and ‘Caprice’ varietiesof garden beans. The data was collected in 2008 and 2006-2007 in severallocations in the United States.

The first column shows the variety.

The second column shows the location of testing. “FL” indicates Florida;“BELL” indicates Belleglade, Fla.; “DEVIL” indicates Devils Garden area,Florida; “HOM” indicates Homestead, Fla.; “TN” indicates Tennessee;“DMV” indicates Delaware; “GA” indicates Georgia; “NC” indicates NorthCarolina; “NJ” indicates New Jersey; “spr” indicates spring-time; and“fall” indicates fall-time. Additionally, for example, in the entry“08TNspr1,” the 1 indicates trial number 1 (if there is a 2 at the endof the entry, it denotes trial number 2; if there is a 3 at the end ofthe entry, it denotes trial number 3). If there is no number at the endof the entry name, as in “08FLspr,” then that means that only one trialwas planted in a location for a certain season.

The third column shows the plant height in inches.

The fourth column shows the plant width in inches.

The fifth column indicates the plant habit (structure) with 1=prone (orsprawling) and 9=upright (or erect).

The sixth column indicates the pod length in millimeters.

The seventh column shows the relative pod color with 1=light and 9=dark.

The eighth column shows the relative number of days to edible pods(relative maturity).

TABLE 2 Characteristic Comparisons for 2008 Rel- ative Plant Plant PlantPod Pod Ma- Variety Location Height Width Habit Length Color turityCaprice 08DMVfall 0 0 3 140 6 52 08FLfall 18 20 5 130 6 08FLfall 16 20 6130 6 08FLspr 16 19 5 135 6 59 08FLspr 18 21 6 140 6 59 08GAspr 18 21 6160 6 60 08GAspr 18 21 6 155 6 60 08NCspr 18 15 5 120 6 52 08NCspr 16 165 130 6 50 08TNfall1 13 10 7 130 6 60 08TNspr1 16 15 6 140 6 57 08TNspr115 16 6 130 6 54 08TNspr3 15 15 5 100 6 57 Average 16.4 17.4 5.5 133.86.0 56.4 H26109 08DMVfall 0 0 3 140 6 52 08FLfall 18 18 7 130 8 08FLfall18 18 6 120 7 08FLspr 21 19 7 135 7 60 08FLspr 19 18 7 120 7 61 08GAspr18 21 7 140 8 62 08GAspr 19 20 7 150 7 64 08NCspr 16 15 7 130 6 5308NCspr 17 15 6 120 7 54 08TNspr1 16 15 7 130 7 55 08TNspr1 17 14 6 1208 56 Average 17.9 17.3 6.4 130.5 7.1 57.4 Pike 08DMVfall 0 0 3 130 7 5308FLfall 18 18 7 130 8 08FLfall 18 18 6 120 7 08FLspr 19 18 7 130 7 6108FLspr 21 19 7 135 7 60 08GAspr 18 21 7 145 8 62 08GAspr 19 20 7 145 764 08NCspr 16 15 6 120 7 54 08NCspr 15 15 6 120 7 53 08TNfall1 15 11 8140 8 58 08TNspr1 17 14 6 120 8 56 08TNspr1 16 15 7 140 7 55 Average17.5 16.7 6.4 131.3 7.3 57.6

TABLE 3 Characteristic Comparisons for 2006-2007 Plant Plant Pod PodRelative Variety Location Height Width Plant Habit Length Color MaturityCaprice 06BELLfall 20 22 5 125 6 64 06BELLfall 18 19 6 125 5 6406BELLfall2 17 24 5 125 5 61 06BELLfall2 20 20 5 115 6 60 06DEVILfall 1720 5 125 6 58 06DEVILfall 21 21 6 120 6 58 06DEVILfall 18 20 6 120 6 5706DEVILfall2 17 18 6 120 6 57 06DEVILfall2 19 20 6 115 6 58 06HOMfall 1518 5 115 7 62 06HOMfall 17 19 7 115 7 61 07NJfall 22 21 7 150 6 5707NJfall 24 20 7 140 7 57 07TNspr1 18 19 6 110 6 62 07TNspr1 17 18 5 1106 62 07TNspr2 14 16 6 100 6 60 07TNspr2 18 18 6 120 6 60 Average 18.419.6 5.8 120.6 6.1 59.9 Pike 06BELLfall 19 20 7 115 7 65 06BELLfall 2220 7 120 6 66 06BELLfall2 17 21 7 130 6 62 06BELLfall2 18 19 7 125 7 6206DEVILfall 21 21 7 115 7 60 06DEVILfall 19 18 7 115 7 59 06DEVILfall220 21 7 125 7 60 06HOMfall 17 18 6 110 8 62 06HOMfall 14 17 5 110 8 6007NJfall 18 18 6 140 8 59 07NJfall 20 18 7 140 7 56 07TNspr1 16 15 6 1308 63 07TNspr1 15 15 5 90 7 64 07TNspr2 18 16 6 130 8 57 Average 18.118.4 6.4 121.1 7.2 61.1 H26109 06BELLfall 20 21 7 120 6 64 06BELLfall 2119 7 125 7 66 06BELLfall2 18 18 7 120 7 63 06BELLfall2 18 20 6 130 7 6306DEVILfall2 19 20 7 130 7 62 06DEVILfall2 20 21 7 125 7 60 06HOMfall 1517 6 115 8 61 Average 18.7 19.4 6.7 123.6 7.0 62.7

DEPOSIT INFORMATION

A deposit of the Harris Moran Seed Company proprietary Garden BeanCultivar H26109 disclosed above and recited in the appended claims hasbeen made with the National Collection of Industrial, Food and MarineBacteria (NCIMB), Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate, Bucksburn,Aberdeen, AB21 9YA, Scotland, UK. The date of deposit was May 26, 2010.The deposit of 2,500 seeds was taken from the same deposit maintained byHarris Moran Seed Company since prior to the filing date of thisapplication. All restrictions will be removed upon granting of a patent,and the deposit is intended to meet all of the requirements of 37 C.F.R.§§1.801-1.809. The NCIMB number is No. 41718. The deposit will bemaintained in the depository for a period of thirty years, or five yearsafter the last request, or for the enforceable life of the patent,whichever is longer, and will be replaced as necessary during thatperiod.

While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussedabove, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications,permutations, additions and sub-combinations thereof. It is thereforeintended that the following appended claims and claims hereafterintroduced are interpreted to include all such modifications,permutations, additions and sub-combinations as are within their truespirit and scope.

1. A seed of bean cultivar designated H26109, wherein a representativesample of seed of said cultivar has been deposited under NCIMB No.41718.
 2. A bean plant, or a part thereof, produced by growing the seedof claim
 1. 3. A bean plant, or a part thereof, having all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of bean cultivar H26109listed in Table
 1. 4. A bean plant, or a part thereof, having thephysiological and morphological characteristics of bean cultivar H26109,wherein a representative sample of seed of said cultivar has beendeposited under NCIMB No.
 41718. 5. A tissue culture of regenerablecells produced from the plant of claim 2 wherein said cells of thetissue culture are produced from a plant part selected from the groupconsisting of embryos, meristematic cells, leaves, pollen, root, roottips, stems, anther, pistils, pods, flowers, or seeds.
 6. A bean plantregenerated from the tissue culture of claim 5, said plant having themorphological and physiological characteristics of bean cultivar H26109,wherein a representative sample of seed has been deposited under NCIMBNo.
 41718. 7. A method for producing a bean seed comprising crossing afirst parent bean plant with a second parent bean plant and harvestingthe resultant hybrid bean seed, wherein said first parent bean plant orsecond parent bean plant is the bean plant of claim
 2. 8. A hybrid beanseed produced by the method of claim
 7. 9. A method for producing anherbicide resistant bean plant comprising transforming the bean plant ofclaim 2 with a transgene that confers herbicide resistance to anherbicide selected from the group consisting of imidazolinone,sulfonylurea, glyphosate, glufosinate, L-phosphinothricin, triazine, andbenzonitrile.
 10. An herbicide resistant bean plant, or a part thereof,produced by the method of claim
 9. 11. A method for producing an insectresistant bean plant comprising transforming the bean plant of claim 2with a transgene that confers insect resistance.
 12. An insect resistantbean plant, or a part thereof, produced by the method of claim
 11. 13. Amethod for producing a disease resistant bean plant comprisingtransforming the bean plant of claim 2 with a transgene that confersdisease resistance.
 14. A disease resistant bean plant, or a partthereof, produced by the method of claim
 13. 15. A method of introducinga desired trait into bean cultivar H26109 comprising: (a) crossing abean cultivar H26109 plant grown from bean cultivar H26109 seed, whereina representative sample of seed has been deposited under NCIMB No.41718, with another bean plant that comprises a desired trait to produceF₁ progeny plants, wherein the desired trait is selected from the groupconsisting of insect resistance, disease resistance, water stresstolerance, heat tolerance, improved shelf life and improved nutritionalquality; (b) selecting one or more progeny plants that have the desiredtrait to produce selected progeny plants; (c) crossing the selectedprogeny plants with the bean cultivar H26109 plants to produce backcrossprogeny plants; (d) selecting for backcross progeny plants that have thedesired trait and physiological and morphological characteristics ofbean cultivar H26109 listed in Table 1 to produce selected backcrossprogeny plants; and (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) three or more timesin succession to produce selected fourth or higher backcross progenyplants that comprise the desired trait and the physiological andmorphological characteristics of bean cultivar H26109 listed in Table 1.16. A bean plant produced by the method of claim 15, wherein the planthas the desired trait and the all physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of bean cultivar H26109 listed in Table
 1. 17. A methodfor producing bean cultivar H26109 seed, wherein a representative sampleof seed has been deposited under NCIMB No. 41718, comprising crossing afirst parent bean cultivar with a second parent bean cultivar andharvesting the resultant bean seed, wherein both said first and secondbean cultivars are the bean plant of claim
 4. 18. The bean plant ofclaim 16, wherein the desired trait is herbicide resistance and theresistance is conferred to an herbicide selected from the groupconsisting of imidazolinone, sulfonylurea, glyphosate, glufosinate,L-phosphinothricin, triazine and benzonitrile.
 19. The bean plant ofclaim 16, wherein the desired trait is insect resistance and the insectresistance is conferred by a transgene encoding a Bacillus thuringiensisendotoxin.
 20. The bean plant of claim 16, wherein the desired trait isselected from the group consisting of insect resistance, diseaseresistance, water stress tolerance, heat tolerance, improved shelf lifeand improved nutritional quality.